Enduring Love
by GraphXButterfly
Summary: Set one month after To See You Again, Kathryn and Chakotay are enjoying and exploring their new found love when some unexpected news will change the lives of the command team and its crew, but is this news good news? CH 02's up!
1. Amazing Discovery

Enduring Love

Chapter One: Amazing Discovery

Summary: Set one month after To See You Again, Kathryn and Chakotay are enjoying and exploring their new found love when some unexpected news will change the lives of the command team and its crew, but is this news good news?

-=/\=-

"Hum what are these?" she asked as she looked up to see Chakotay holding a bouquet of small blue flowers. She took the flowers into her hands and smelled them.

"They're forget-me-nots, it's been a month since you got your memories back." He smiled at her.

Her face lit up as she looked up at him, she hadn't even realized that it'd been that long already. "It's been a month already?"

"Sure has, and I must say it's been a wonderful month." He smiled back to her; he took his seat across from her at her desk. It wasn't the first time he'd brought her flowers in her ready room. They'd been spending a lot of time together, but at the same time they had both been very cautions as to how they acted outside of privet. She wasn't quite ready to make their relationship public. She was simply enjoying the freedom to express herself with him when they were far away from the eyes of the crew.

"So what do you want to do to celebrate?" she asked looking into his eyes, he could see her desire in them.

"I don't know, I was thinking a nice moonlight supper, and maybe a nice sail on Lake George." He smiled back at her; he remembered the last time they'd gone out, on Lake George, what he'd wanted to do with her then was well, not at all what they did.

"That sounds wonderful" she said looking deeply into his soul, she had a few ideas of what she wanted to do, and had wanted to do a far more then she'd ever allowed him to do before. She wondered if that was why he'd chosen the setting the he had.

"I thought you might say that, so what do you say 1930?" he asked.

"It's a date." She couldn't help herself she was in such a wonderful mood.

-=/\=-

There was just twenty minutes before the end of her shift, she knew that she needed to at least make her way out to the bridge, it was her custom to do so, but she couldn't even move from where she was sitting. Her head leaned back on her chair, and her eyes were closed. She was trying to figure out what could have caused her to feel so faint so quickly. She'd been fine just hours before. Her mind said that she should call for help, call for the Doctor to either come to her or for her to go to him, but she couldn't even find the energy to reach her combadge, that and she really didn't want to see him.

She at least knew that in about twenty minutes or so she'd be found, though she knew her wish to not see the Doctor wasn't going to come true if she were to be found. She opened her eyes, but closed them quickly as pain shot through them. The light in the room was too bright the sound of the warp engines was too loud, and the chair she sat in was too hard. She'd scarcely heard a sigh come out of her mouth.

She moaned louder when her chime rang, she couldn't even formulate the words come in. The pain pierced though her head again as the chime rang once more, by the third chime tears were flowing involuntarily from her eyes. Thankfully whoever it was outside her door decided to just come inside. She was unaware of who it was, but was sure she'd be seeing the Doctor very soon.

B'Elanna walked into the ready room; she spotted Kathryn instantly and determined that something was wrong. She was by her side looking down at her, in a quiet voice she asked, "Captain, are you alright." She reached her hand out and touched her on the arm. She didn't move, though the contortion on her face showed that she was at least alert.

She knelt down next to the woman that was sitting with her head leaning back on the chair, her eyes were closed but her face was contorted. She was very pale. "Captain?" she questioned again very concerned.

"Lan" she finally managed to say, she whence as the sound of her own voice rushed through her head. She could hear the sound of a tricorder being pulled out; the beeping sounded about fifty times louder then she remembered it being.

B'Elanna ran the tricorder all around her, she started at her head. There was some major vascular dilation in her head, as she made her way towards her abdomen. She caught her breath as she scanned her. She covered her mouth and looked at Kathryn's face; Tom had been right all along. "Captain, I'm going to get you to sickbay, I think you're pregnant." She stated.

Kathryn may have been in agony from her headache but what B'Elanna said caused her to open her eyes and look her straight in the eyes. She had managed to lift her head, but soon the pain became too much and she dropped her head back to the chair and closed her eyes, her body arched with the pain. B'Elanna took this to mean it was time to stop lollygagging around and called for an emergency transport to sickbay.

-=/\=-

"Please state the nature of the medical emergency" the Doctor said as he appeared in the main area of sickbay. It took him only a few seconds to determine who the patient was.

B'Elanna had wrapped her arms around Kathryn's shoulders before they transported, and it didn't take her much to lift her onto the biobed. Once in the laying down position Kathryn's hands and managed to find enough strength to cover her eyes, just laying up facing the lights was making the throbbing worse.

The Doctor could tell instantly that she was in a great deal of pain, the cause or the exact location of the pain was the mystery. He started scanning her head, until B'Elanna spoke up. "Doctor, I believe she's pregnant." She stated and locked eyes with the holographic man.

His own eyes grew wide at what she'd said; he moved the hand that held the scanner down to her abdomen. The readings confirmed what B'Elanna had told him. He just nodded then focused his attention to Kathryn. "Captain, what is causing your discomfort; are you nauseous?" he asked.

She was a little bit, but it was the pain her head that was causing her the most issue. She managed to find her voice, though it was very shaky and the fact that she was in as much pain as she was, resonated though it. "A little." She winced again.

"What is bothering you then?" he asked he'd noted vascular dilation in her head, and was wondering if that was the source. But, without confirming that it was that he couldn't treat her.

"My head" she curled up on the bed as the pain worsen. Her entire body was ridged, and a cry emanated from her mouth. "Make it stop." Was the last thing she'd managed to say before she surrendered to the pain, this was by far the worst headache she'd ever had in her life.

She felt B'Elanna take her hand; the young woman was very concerned with how she was doing. She watched the Doctor as he moved back and grabbed a hypo spray. He pressed it to her neck and her body visibly relaxed and her eyes that were already closed also relaxed and it became obvious that what he'd given her was a sedative. She looked up at him, "why is she is so much pain?"

"I'm not sure; I think that her proneness to sever headaches as made her extremely sensitive to the changes in her body. Until I can come up with the exact cause of the headache I can't treat it safely for the baby." He stated. She saw him look down at her, "I need to run a DNA test on the fetus, to determine who the father is, that is if it's anyone on the ship." He stated, B'Elanna knew exactly what he was implying, that perhaps while she was on the planet she'd had a fling, but she knew that wasn't the case, so she took a gamble and fibbed, though she was very sure who the father actually was she didn't know for sure.

"I know who the father is," she stated looking at him. She was hoping that he wouldn't catch her slight uncertainty.

The Doctor looked at her, "care to enlighten me?" he asked, up until now he hadn't even thought that she'd been sexually active, let alone actually having a relationship with one of her crewmembers.

"It's Chakotay" she said quickly, praying that she wasn't wrong; of course she didn't let him know this.

He nodded, and then pressed his combadge "Doctor to Commander Chakotay, could you please come to see me?" he asked. He closed the link after he'd gotten a response from him.

-=/\=-

He was a bit irritated as he made his way to sickbay, he'd been just about to go and get Kathryn form her ready room so that they could go on their romantic getaway on Lake George, but the Doctor had interrupted him, he guess that she would return to her quarters and get ready then meet him. He was wondering why exactly the Doctor had called him.

He turned the corner and walked into the doors of sickbay. He froze when he saw Kathryn laying on the biobed with B'Elanna holding her hand, and the Doctor scanning her. "What happened?" he asked walking up to the group. He took the hand of Kathryn form B'Elanna who gladly let him.

"I went to talk to her, and she was in obvious pain." B'Elanna stated then became very unsure as Chakotay grew worried; she looked to the Doctor hoping that he'd take over the explanation.

"Commander, I believe that she is suffering from a sever migraine, that is pregnancy induced." He stated looking at the man, trying to judge his reaction. He only blankly starred at him, not sure if he'd heard him right. "I have her sedated at the moment until I can figure out a safe treatment for her."

Chakotay swallowed and looked down at her then back up to the Doctor, "she's pregnant?" he asked.

He nodded, "yes she is," he smiled slightly as well, though he was concerned with how severe her headache was.

Chakotay smiled broadly and looked down into her sleeping face, he brushed the hair out of it, "how far along is she?" he had an idea that it would be anywhere from one to four weeks along.

"She's three weeks," he stated, he looked up at B'Elanna she'd been right.

B'Elanna smiled, "Congratulations Chakotay." She smiled.

The Doctor wasn't quite ready to begin the Congratulations just yet. He was worried that she might just not be able to handle the pregnancy, she was only three weeks along, and she was already being hit drastically with symptoms. "I want to keep her in here tonight; I need to figure out the best way to address the vascular dilatation in her brain, it's normal for woman during pregnancy to have some dilation, but in more server cases, the dilation can be more extreme, thus causing migraine headaches. I have a feeling that her love of Coffee might be partly to blame, that and she is already predisposed to migraine headaches."

Chakotay nodded, " I see," he said, her headache must have been atrocious, he'd caught her on more than one occasion with a really bad one but she usually protested greatly until someone drug her into sickbay, but she never went on her own, or with little prompting. "Is there anything that I can do to help with them or help her to prevent them?" he asked wanting to help her out in every way he could.

B'Elanna decided that it was best to let them have some privacy, "I'm going to get going, I think I need to give you all some privacy." She stated. She walked over to Chakotay and gave him a hug, "once again congratulations, when she wakes up can you let me know? I would like to congratulate her in person." She smiled at him, just weeks before she'd berated Tom for his overactive imagination, but he'd been right. "And don't worry, I won't say anything, I know that you wanted to keep things to yourselves for a while." She smiled and then made her way out of sickbay.

Chakotay nodded to her and watched her leave. He then turned his attention back to the Doctor, "so like I was asking, is there anything I can do to help her out?"

The Doctor gave him a large list of things that he could do to help her and suggestions for him to try and give her as well to help prevent some of the more unpleasant symptoms of pregnancy, he then rushed him out of sickbay telling him that he needed to rest as well as the fact that she needed rest as well, let alone the fact that she was still sedated. He decided the best way that he could help with the migraine was to put a cool compress and give her some mild pain relievers; in moderation they shouldn't hurt the baby. He decided to just let her wakeup on her own; a goodnights sleep wasn't going to harm her any either way.

-=/\=-

The pain was much less as she opened her eyes, it wasn't entirely gone but she could manage. She slowly sat up and looked around; it was dark in the room. "Doctor" she called out, her voice was still a bit shaky and she noticed. She placed her legs over the side of the biobed and put her hand on her stomach. Part of her was wondering if she'd dreamed what B'Elanna had said or not. "Doctor?" she called a little louder. She was about to ask the computer to activate him when he appeared from his office.

"Captain you're awake." He stated grabbing his tricorder. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Better, still have a bit of a headache, but it's manageable." She stated looking at him, he was scanning her head. "Doctor," she questioned looking him in the eyes as he scanned her, "Am I pregnant?" she asked wanting confirmation.

He smiled and nodded while he set the tricorder down on the bed. "Yes you are, three weeks." He watched as her expression changed, it wasn't readable at first but slowly it contorted into a smile with tears threatening to spill over.

She looked down at her stomach and then back up to him. "We, I mean I didn't even think about the fact I hadn't had a contraceptive injection." Fear crossed her face, "what am I going to do?" she asked, looking at him. She wasn't really asking him exactly, more like voicing her fear out loud.

The Doctor looked at her and placed his hand on her arm, he looked deeply into her eyes. "I think that is for you and Chakotay to talk about. Though if I know you as well as I think I do, you're going to do fine, there has never been anything that you haven't been able to face." She felt like crying, just everything was so overwhelming. He sensed that she was and did something that he wouldn't normally have done; he pulled her into a hug. She then started to actually cry she was excited and scared all at the same time.


	2. Terms and Conditions

Chapter Two: Terms and Conditions

-=/\=-

"I think you might be right Tom," B'Elanna started as soon as the doors to his quarters opened.

She earned a puzzled look from the man, "I might be right about what?" he asked, trying to figure out exactly what she was telling him.

"About the command team," she stated sitting down on his couch. She waited until he sat down next to her, his look said everything. "I've been watching them this last month, and know what I think you may have been right about them dating. They've been spending an awful lot of time together." She added.

He smiled at her, "I love the faith you have in me B'E but I think that you might have been right. I haven't seen them act like a couple since then. I think I was letting my hopes get the best of me again." He sent her a sideways smile; he thought that she was just trying to make him feel better.

B'Elanna was in shock, he was admitting that he was wrong, but she knew better. "Tom, what are you talking about, a month ago you were so sure, and I really do believe you now, it just took some time for me to see it. You can't tell me you haven't noticed that they are spending more time together then normal can you?" she questioned.

Tom looked at her in disbelief and tried to figure out why she'd suddenly changed her mind about the whole thing, maybe she'd talked to Chakotay, the two of them were close. "Alright so I have noticed that bit, but they sure haven't acted like a couple anywhere else."

"I bet they're just trying to enjoy being together without the entire ship gossiping about it, you and I tired that at first." She stated eyeing him, it was kind of fun knowing a lot more then she was telling him.

Tom thought on this, "they're doing a really good job if they are." He smiled, and looked up at her, "okay, I'm glad you finally believed me, now how about we go and get something to eat?" he questioned, he still wasn't convinced that she really wasn't just feeding him a line to make him feel better.

"Sounds good to me," she held out her hands to allow him to help her up.

-=/\=-

Kathryn took her hands and grabbed a hold of the Doctor's arms gently moving him back away from her. She looked at him and smiled a slight sideways smile, "Thank you Doctor, I guess I needed that."

He nodded, "It looked like you did."

She looked down and back up, "sorry, I didn't mean to, you know." She wasn't able to quite say it. "I think my hormones are getting the better of me." She wiped her eyes with the back of her right hand. She hadn't expected to find herself crying in the embrace of the Doctor.

"No apology necessary on the account of biology." He grinned.

She looked back up to him and laughed slightly, "thanks," she then became serious, "Dr. that was probably the worst headache I've ever had, what caused it?"

"Well, during pregnancy the blood vessels dilate and swell some to allow for grater blood flow to the fetus, I suspect that your proneness to migraines and other forms of headaches has made you more sensitive to this change in your body. I also think that the amount of coffee you consume may partly be to blame, the caffeine in coffee can make the symptoms worse." He looked at her trying to judge her reaction to what he had to say.

She fixed him with a look, she understood what he was saying, but she was none too happy with it. Especially the part about the coffee, she knew what was coming next. "I see," she stated not looking him in the eyes.

"Captain, it may be best until we can figure out for sure the cause of the problem, if you cut back your coffee intake, or at least switch to decaffeinated coffee." He waited for a response. The headache she still had was starting to worsen, though that could have just been her imagination, her jaw was tight, that was one of the only things that seemed to keep her going most days, and now she was being told she couldn't have it. She bit her lip unable to formulate something to say to him about it. "I understand that it's not something you'd like to give up, but it really is for you and the baby's health." He stated looking her over.

She nodded, "I know," she sounded more like a disappointed child than anything else. "Is there anything else that I should avoid?" she asked hoping that there wasn't.

"Well aside from the obvious, Alcohol, you should probably try to avoid some of the more radical choices our resident Talixian creates, I would suggest aside from some of the vegetables in the airponics bay that you should stick to replicated food best you can. I will increase your weekly rations to make sure that you have enough to sustain you and the baby. I already said to cut the caffeine that means more than just coffee anything with caffeine in it. Strenuous exercise so velocity is out, that's way to dangerous for you to play while pregnant, I know about some of the injuries that you and other crewmembers have acquired during the game. I do however want you to stay active, so a moderate exercise routine is very much suggested." He paused and looked at her. She was nodding but he wasn't entirely sure she was actually still listening to him.

When she didn't verbalize a response he continued. "You should if you have to have the commander handle cleaning up after Debbie, and make sure if you wash your hands after handling Chakotay's cat." He stated. She looked up and smiled for a moment at the thought of the pet he'd gotten while they were in orbit of Terra. It was a beautiful white cat with crystal blue eyes. He'd named him Misae. The Doctor was pleased that she actually had been listening. "Those are the things that you should avoid, now there are some things that I want you to do, eat three square meals a day, I will provide you with a vitamin supplement, and I want you to get at least six hours of sleep every night, I would prefer if you would get eight to ten, but I know that that is probably asking too much."

He got a glare at the last part but her face softened; he was just trying to make sure she and the baby were safe. "I understand Doctor." She was already becoming tired again, and wondered if it were because she was pregnant or because she'd been listening to the Doctor for the last thirty minutes. She couldn't help herself and yawned.

Noting that she appeared to be sleepy once more he decided that he'd let her rest, "I'll provide you with a complete list in the morning, it's still late; I'll release you first thing. I would suggest taking this time to rest."

She nodded and lay back down, "Thank you Doctor" she said just before he disappeared into his office. She looked up at the ceiling in sickbay and wondered just what she'd gotten herself into. Did Chakotay already know about the pregnancy? Did he want it? How was she going to handle being the captain and being pregnant at the same time? What if something were to happen to her? And most of all, how the hell was she going to deal with life on Voyager without coffee!

-=/\=-

In the ready room Kathryn sat at her desk, she lifted up a cup of warm black liquid. She sipped it and scrunched her nose, it was decaffeinated coffee and though it wasn't supposed to have a flavor difference she could still tell. She sighed and placed it back down on the desk. Her head still hurt some, but it was very much manageable, it was the same level as she usually had when dealing with a stressful situation. She looked up and called out "Enter" when her chime rang. She smiled broadly when she saw who it was. "B'Elanna"

The younger woman walked cautiously into the ready room. "Good morning Captain, how are you feeling?" she broached as she made her way towards her desk.

Kathryn motioned for her to sit down in front of her, "I'm doing better, thank you."

She took the seat across for Kathryn, "I went to see you this morning, but the Doctor told me he'd released you." She stated, it was then that Kathryn spotted that she was holding something. Noticing her gaze she smiled and placed the item on her desk. "It's for you."

Kathryn's eyebrows furrowed and as she lifted the oddly shaped package, it'd been wrapped up in a nice silver white paper, with a single bow tied around it. "Really? What is it?" she asked, slowly removing the ribbon from the package, and then carefully peeled away the paper. "Oh B'Elanna" she grinned as she looked up at the woman.

"It's a stuffed Targ, my grandmother gave my mother one for me when she found out that she was pregnant. It's my way of congratulating you." She laughed slightly, "not exactly the cutest stuffed animal in the world, but."

Kathryn laughed, "thank you I love it, and I'm sure it'll love it too." She stated looking down at her abdomen. Part of her couldn't believe that she'd been so stupid, it had been such a long time that she'd even required an injection that well, it had slipped her mind completely, but what was done was done.

"So, I was wondering if you'd like to have lunch with me later in the mess hall?" B'Elanna asked. She hoped that she'd say yes.

She smiled, to the young woman. "As long as I eat replicated food, the Doctor has given me one hell of a list of things that I need to avoid and do." She'd raised her eyebrows as she looked at her. B'Elanna then noticed that she'd lifted a data padd up and held it out to her.

The half Klingon took it from her and read over it, she looked back up at Kathryn pity in her eyes, "wow, harsh." She simply stated.

"You're telling me." She laughed, "I don't know how I'm going to survive this, how does anyone survive this?" she asked.

"I'm not sure but woman have been doing it for millennia, perhaps you should talk with Ensign Wildman, after all she's the only woman on Voyager we have that has had a child." She placed her hand on top of hers.

"Maybe, but I think I want to wait on telling anyone else, at least for a little while, after all there is still a chance that well…" her words drifted off, and B'Elanna had caught the meaning, it was still early and it was common knowledge that the first thirteen weeks were the most critical. There were still ten weeks to go. "I'm thinking of making an announcement after we're past the critical stage." She smiled at the woman.

B'Elanna looked and nodded, "I think that's a wonderful idea. Though, you may not be able to keep it a secret that long." She laughed, "Remember the rumor mill runs faster than warp ten on this ship."

"I know but I can try." Kathryn laughed again, she looked up when the chime rang again, she sent a questioning look to B'Elanna and called for the person to enter, she had moved the packaging under the desk and onto her lap, just in case. Both women smiled greatly when Chakotay entered the room.

"I'm sorry I'm interrupting." He said, and was about to leave.

"No, no come in" Kathryn stated, she placed the stuff in her lap back on her desk, which earned a questioning look from him.

"I brought her a little gift for the baby." She stated. She'd stood, "and actually I need to be getting back to engineering, I've been gone longer then I intended." She gave Chakotay a smile, and then looked back to Kathryn, "Lunch 1230?" she stated and left after receiving a nod.

Chakotay moved closer to her, "how are you holding up?" he asked, they hadn't really had much more than a few moments together since they'd both found out.

"I'm not sure to be honest." She said truthfully, she made her way to her couch and sat down, she looked up to him a silent gesture that he should follow her. He sat down and she nuzzled into him. She had carried the little Targ toy with her.

He wrapped his arms around her, "what do you mean?" he asked.

"I just have a really bad feeling about this whole thing," she looked down at the toy, "I can't explain it, part of me wonders how we could have both been so careless, I'm the captain, and I'm the first one to find herself pregnant, how is that going to look?" she searched his eyes she needed some of his wisdom and strength.

"Well, it's going to look like you're human." He looked down at her and sadness filled his face, "you're not thinking about?"

A look of horror crossed her face, "Oh no, of course not, how could you think that." She'd backed away out of his embrace and was staring at him; she couldn't believe that he'd even suggest that.

"Sorry, just, the way you were talking, you sounded as if you thought it was a mistake. Also it's not exactly the best time, place, or circumstance to start a family. He was trying to reassure her, but he wasn't quite getting across what he meant, it was coming out far differently then he'd intended." He was a little surprised when she pulled away from him; she now was about a foot away on the couch.

"You don't want it." She said in a very sad tone. She was starting to feel the burn and sting behind her eyes, and the tightness in her throat that were the tail tell signs that she was about to cry. She didn't want to cry, not now, not in front of him, not since he… she stopped as she felt his hand under her chin.

He lifted her eyes to his, "Kathryn, I didn't say that, of course I want the baby. I was just trying to help you voice your concerns." He stated looking deeply into her shimmering eyes.

She wrapped her arms around him, "I'm just so unsure, I've never been pregnant before, and we're so far away from the federation and the alpha quadrant. What if…" she stopped, she was terrified by everything she facing something she'd never thought she'd have to face. She surrendered to the warmth of him as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him. "I know this isn't the right time, place, or circumstance, but it's here, and I know we didn't plan it, but… I could never kill my child," she stopped and looked up towards his face, "our child." She corrected.

He smiled and placed a kiss atop her head. "I'm glad to hear you say that, for a moment there I thought…"

"I know" she moved out of his embrace to change her positioning some, she then leaned it to him. "I also know that I'm not going to be facing this alone, and I'm glad that it's your baby." She moved her face closer to his, and they kissed a long deep slow kiss showing how much the other loved each other, once they broke apart she looked up at him. "I think we should be getting back to our bridge, before the crew starts to talk." She winked at him.

"I think that's a good idea." He stood up and then helped her up. He made his way out the door first and she paused only long enough to place the little stuffed animal that B'Elanna had given her down on the coffee table. She paused before exiting the ready room and placed her hand on her stomach, some how she'd make things work out.


End file.
